Time Error
by SSJ SonGoku
Summary: Goku has seen all sort of trouble, but nothing quite like this. Goku, with the body of a child, is accidentally sent into the past. He now must find a way to get back without alerting his family and friends of his identity, to prevent altering the future.
1. Pan's Mistake

Time Error -- DBZ/GT

Summary: Goku has been in all sorts of trouble, but what happens when he gets himself stuck into the past? Goku, after being transformed into the body of a child by the dragonballs, is accidentally sent into the past. There he meets his youngest son as a child, Goten, who looks just like him. What will Goku do when they discover him? Could he tell them the truth? Or will an elaborate plan be created in order to avoid the consequences as well as the wrath of ChiChi.

Disclaimer: DBZ/GT or any of the characters do not belong to me, obviously.

--

A darkness flashed around him, he felt as though a mallet had smashed into his head several times. A small child suddenly burst his eyes open in the confusion. His head throbbed with pain but he soon realized it was not a physical pain, but a mental tension that was building up. Everything around him was dark, apart from the pink colored lights that flashed around occasionally in the pitch black. He was floating steadily, as though being pushed along a path. How did he get here? Who was he? Even these simple questions seemed to evade him. A light behind he grew steadily brighter, his eyes winced at it as they had become unaccustomed to the light from being in the dark so long. 'Wait... I remember now...' a young voice floated and echoed in the boy's mind. A memory flashed into his head, reminding him of where he was. He had been with Pan, his granddaughter, and his son, Gohan as they prepared a time-travel gate. The entire thing had been Bulma's idea. Convinced that if she had the ability to make a time-travel spaceship in another life, (Refer to Trunk's Saga) she could make a time-travel machine in this life as well. It was tested, to no avail, it just did not seem to work. Bulma had left in order to find more parts to add to the seemingly incomplete machine. Not too long afterwards Pan had wandered into Capsule Corp., to where the time-travel gate was. Gohan, having been aiding Bulma as she created the device, had invited Goku to watch. Though hardly had the right interest in these types of things he went along, hoping to get away from the upset ChiChi. She had been getting on his case more than usual, enough to scare even the strongest of super saiyans off.

Pan, being the curious and mischievous pre-teen she was, decided to tinker around with the machine. She was certain that she could fix what even Bulma could not. Young Pan clicked away at the keyboard, alarming Gohan, as he had not noticed that she had entered the room. "Pan! Wait, don't mess with that!" he exclaimed, flying up to the girl as she halted in her mad flush of key pressing.

"Papa! I, I was just trying to help..." Pan said with an abashed look. She opened her mouth, preparing another flurry of words to fend off her father, as a bright light appeared from the entrance of the time-travel gate. "Ah! Look! It's working!" she exclaimed in glee. She really had fixed it! Gohan spun around at the light, flustered. It was true, a bright light had begun to glow at the entrance. But something else had caught his eye, something bad.

"Wait! Father, watch out! You're getting too clo--!" Gohan had sent a warning to his Goku as the boy reached out to the light in a childish curiosity. In a blaze of blinding light Goku had suddenly disappeared. Gohan stared, flabbergasted. "F-father? FATHER!!" Gohan cried as the entire building went into darkness. The power was down, a blackout? Gohan knew what had happened. It was the time-travel machine, it had used all of the buildings' electricity in order to send his father flying into the future, or was it the past? Gohan clenched his fists tight as the darkness turned into silence. There was no way they could be sure. For all he knew, his father could have been sent three-hundred years in the future, and he would never know.

Goku let the memory pass. It had been so sudden, and the light had seemed so enticing. He made a short rasping chuckle. He could hardly blame his actions on his child form. The small light that had blinded him earlier had seemed to grow steadily larger, though his eyes had easily adjusted to the light once more. The blackness faded and Goku could feel gravity pull on his body, dropping him onto the cold solid ground. It was dark, but not as dark as it had been earlier. His eyes soon readjusted to the semi-darkness and he took a long look around the room. It was a room, a room he recognized. "Ah!" he realized, "This is the room where the time-travel gate was!" He pulled himself from the ground, fumbling to the walls for the light. His small fingers eventually struck the switch and the lights beamed on. "Hmm..." he said with thought, it really was the same room. He spun his head as he searched for the machine. It was nowhere to be seen, as well as both Gohan and Pan. He frowned, had he actually been sent into the past or the future? It seemed unlikely. "Maybe they left..." Goku said, letting himself reach for their power levels. When he could not feel them he began to worry. "Uh-oh, what if I really was sent into the past?" he said in a startled voice to himself. "I better get out of here and find out what's going on..." Goku said slowly as he started towards the stairs. He reached for the doorknob, but was surprised when it twisted when his hand was inches from touching it. "Woah--!"

The door suddenly burst open, slamming into Goku's face as it sent him flying back down the stairs. He grunted on every step, finally landing on his head. "Oooowww," he groaned in displeasure. "That hurt!" he complained as he rubbed his head with both of his hands. "Who did that?! That wasn't very nice!" he said with tears in his eyes. He looked up to see the silhouette of a woman.

"What do you mean?! You're breaking and entering! THAT isn't nice either!" her voice shot back at him as her figure came into the light. "Oh! Huh? Goten?" she said slowly.

Goku gasped, "B-Bulma? Y-you're young!" He was surprised even though he knew he should not have been; it was, after all, her home.

"What did you say? I'm young! Of course I'm young! Are you saying I'm old?!" she shouted, a flood of pink rushing down her cheeks. Goku had forgotten the temper she had, as well as her way to twist words.

"Oh, sorry. You just look younger than usual!" Goku tried for a recovery, realizing that it worked as Bulma's color faded back to normal.

"Why thank you, Goten," she said gleefully. "How polite you're growing, your mother would be proud." Goku stared vacantly. She thought he was Goten? That meant he really was in the past. He resisted the urge to gulp. This was not good. He could not get back without the time-machine, and the last time someone had trifled with time, it had completely changed the events of time. He knew that he'd have to make as little of impact as possible. "By the way, what are you doing here? I heard some noise and thought someone had broken in... Were you playing with Trunks?" she asked him. Goku tried to think of an excuse before she made one for him. He was not much of a liar but the circumstances did not give him much of a choice.

"Y-yes! I was looking for him just now, where is he exactly?" Goku said nervously. He hoped that she would not be able to see through his facade.

Bulma smiled in response, "Well, he's not here right now. I think he's outside training with his father..." Bulma touched his lips with a finger as she tried to remember. "I could get him for you... Of course I have to convince Vegeta first..." Bulma said slowly before Goku decided that this was the perfect opportunity.

"Ah, is that so? Eh heh, too bad! I'll come back later then!" Goku exclaimed, quickly pushing Bulma aside to get past her. "I'll see ya' around Bulma!" he said as he unlatched one of the window doors. He flew out into the sky, waving back at the surprised Bulma as she slowly waved back.

"Hm, something seemed... off about that..." Bulma said frowning as the boy flew out of sight.

Once out of Bulma's sights Goku released a light sigh, that was close. But what could he do now? He was stranded on his own planet. A long growl came from his stomach, "Uhng... I'm soo hungry..." He floated down to the ground, near the heart of the city. He had no money and it was not as though he could go home. Goku dropped down next to a water fountain. According to Bulma he looked like Goten... That must mean that he'd gone into the past. Goku remembered that he was dead at this time. He rustled his hair with his hands as the oddity soon began to confuse him. "Time-travel is confusing... I wonder how Trunks did it," Goku sighed as his stomach groaned again. "I'm going to die if I don't find something to eat!" Goku shouted as he dropped his head back onto the side of the fountain. This motion seemed to have gather the attention of someone because Goku heard approaching footsteps of several people. He let his head rise again, shocked as he eyes saw those in front of him.

"Goten, what's going on, buddy?" a short man with a head full of cropped black hair said. It was Krillin. Goku noticed that 18 and their daughter, Marron, soon following behind.

"K-krillin! Is that you?" Goku stuttered, this was exactly what he had tried avoiding. In the confusion he jolted backwards, bashing his head against the cement of the fountain, cracking the concrete open. "Agh!" Goku held his head for the second time that day, it was a lucky thing that his head was so hard.

"Woah, are you alright?" Krillin said in a humorous voice, chuckling as he did so. He watched as Goku's clothes began to soak in the water that leaked out from the splits of the cracked cement. "So surprised? What are you doing out here in the city?" he asked seconds before answering his own rhetorical question. "Looking for Trunks again? We're going shopping, someone has to carry all this junk," Krillin added, whispering the additional comment. 18 frowned, clearly hearing what the bald man had said. "Oops, too loud. Got to watch out for that," Krillin snickered at Goku who stared, still dumbfounded.

"Yes, that's right," Goku said as he drained the water, letting it drip. 'Poor Krillin,' he thought as he held a small smile. "Good luck then, Krillin. Trunks' was busy with Vege-- Ah, I mean his dad! So I'm going to head back home," Goku explained, realizing that his tail was also soaking. He spun around as though to shake it off before he froze dead. 'Wait, Goten doesn't have a tail!' Goku remembered.

"Huh? What are you looking at, Goten?" Krillin said curiously, trying to get a look behind of Goku. Noticing his movements Goku's body worked automatically. He made a quick movement, keeping his back from Krillin, as well as tripping the small man. Krillin, in the span of less than a second, had fallen into the water. "Uwaah! What's the big deal?!" Krillin shouted, shocked at Goku's quick movements.

"Ah! Sorry, Krillin!" he turned to 18 and Marron, "Sorry, 18! I've got to go, I'll see ya'!" Goku said as he took off into the sky. He made certain to slip his fuzzy tail into his blue gi as he soared higher near the clouds. 'I should probably find the right clothes... It seems almost impossible to avoid contact at all...' Goku thought to himself. He could disguise himself as Goten easily, the only problem then would be Goten himself. Goku decided it best that he risked it, it order to make his way in the past world.

** My first fanfic, I hope you liked it! This is just chapter 1, I plan on continuing it soon.


	2. A Way Back

Summary: Goku has been in all sorts of trouble, but what happens when he gets himself stuck into the past? Goku, after being transformed into the body of a child by the dragonballs, is accidentally sent into the past. There he meets his youngest son as a child, Goten, who looks just like him. What will Goku do when they discover him? Could he tell them the truth? Or will an elaborate plan be created in order to avoid the consequences as well as the wrath of Chi Chi.

Disclaimer: DBZ/GT or any of the characters do not belong to me, obviously.

First off, thanks to those who took their time to read my story. This second chapter may sometimes sounds repetitive, but please bear with me!

--

"Arm... Arm... Leg..." Goku fit himself into a blue long-sleeved shirt. He pulled Roshi's, his old master's, uniform on top of it, finishing off the look with a belt along his waist. "Hmp! All done!" Goku said happily, looking down at his new clothes. After his run in with Krillin he was not going to risk going out unprepared for a situation in which he may be recognized. He faced a mirror, admiring himself for a moment before ruffling his hair in a rough manner. "There, perfect," he grinned into the mirror. He was at a tailor's shop, having no means of getting Goten's uniform without having to pay. Goku had been forced to sell his old gi in order to pay, but it turned out well. He looked like a perfect copy of his youngest son. He waved goodbye to the tailor and left quickly. As soon as he left a long and loud growl alarmed him.

"Unng! I'm starving!" he shouted as he held his stomach. With no money he didn't have much choice but to hunt for his own food. "I better hurry," he told himself, "Or I won't have the energy to catch something..."

Goku, using the energy he had left, flew past the outskirts of the city. A forest, near the city, Goku found a river full of life. "Ah! Perfect..." Goku said as he stripped down. He jumped into the water, hovering over the fish that it contained. He made a quick strike into the river. In mere minutes he had caught enough fish to feed several families. "A little on the small size, but I suppose it'll do for now," he laughed as he speared the fish onto a stick to cook over a newly created fire. His mouth watered over the smell as the crackling fire crisped the fresh water fish. As soon as the fish had finished cooking Goku downed them quickly in a flash of inhuman speed.

After every last piece of food had been swallowed Goku gave a long sigh of satisfaction. "Ahh... That was good..." he said sheepishly. He stretched out his arms, releasing a long yawn. The fire, still burning, was warm against the cold that had drifted down as the edge of the woods grew dark. Goku looked to the sky, it was getting late.

"I better find some shelter... Or somewhere to sleep," Goku said to himself. He was accustomed to the outdoors, but this would be the first time for a long time since he had lasted slept outside. Goku went deeper into the woods, searching for a tree or cave that could either provide him with a supportive branch to sleep on or, better yet, a warm place to rest. As he searched the sky only grew even darker. Goku knew that he could not be too picky with where he had to sleep; caves were much harder to find than strong branches.

Soon enough Goku found a nice tree with many branches, one in particular was thick and strong enough to hold him by its appearance.

The clouds covered the almost full moon, leaving Goku with less light to work with than he would have preferred. He climbed the tree slowly, making his way to the large branch. His food pushed against a different branch as he reached out. His hands groped for it, unable to see much in the dark. A loud cracking noise sounded, sending a pang of panic through Goku's mind. He could fly if it was necessary, but he feared that it would be dangerous in the dark. It was possible that he would fly straight into trouble, it would not be the first time.

As though hanging in midair time seemed to stop to Goku's body. Everything about him was enhanced, especially his reflexes. His tail, having these reflexes, ripped straight through the back of his new pants, latching automatically onto the branch. Goku swung upside down, uncertain of what had just occurred. "Oh no! My clothes, I just got these..." Goku cried as he discovered the small hole that his protruding tail had created. He sighed, swinging himself back up with a swish of his tail. It twitched slightly before releasing the branch. He yawned again as he tried to fit himself comfortably across the branch. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

Goku woke as the first beams of light his his face. It was early still but hunger had awoken him. Goku felt his own stomach gnawing at him so he quickly scurried down the tree to catch breakfast. Fish was always an option on his menu but variety was never a bad thing. Goku made his way into the forest as he searched for a possible boar or maybe several edible berries. They turned up sooner than he had expected, leaving Goku with plenty to fill himself up for breakfast.

On a full stomach (possible?) he went on to think more about his predicament. He was sent into the past, a good twenty or so years. Goku took a seat near a tree, leaning against it as he continued to think. Even if he asked Bulma to create a time warp, it was unlikely that she would succeed to creating it. What was worse was the possible changes that his presence could create. When Future Trunks had visited them in the past their future had changed drastically.

Goku had no intention to do so, he had to stay hidden. It was both a good and a bad thing that he looked so similar to Goten. It was bad in the way that he may be caught, but it could have been worse had he been in his adult body. 'I guess its not an entirely bad thing that the dragonballs changed my body...' Goku flinched, realizing what his thoughts had just stumbled upon.

"Wait... the dragonballs!" Goku shouted aloud. It was perfect. If he could get his hands on them, there may be a way to send him back to the future. "But I need to find a dragon radar..." Goku told himself. Was it possible to get one from Bulma? It seemed risky. His only other options were to rely on Baba or find a radar that he had used previously. He had left a radar, years ago, at his home and had one stolen from him by General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army; the only problem was the fact that it had happened almost forty years ago. Would the dragon radars remain intact? Or were they even there anymore? Goku was concerned about searching Bulma's home, much less his own.

This left him with the choice to search the old Red Ribbon Army's bases. He couldn't be sure which it was at, but he could guess that it was at their main base.

Goku took flight, the base was far, but not for him. In a matter of minutes the boy had arrived at his destination. He made a determined face, but knew that his chances were slim. As he flew directly above the headquarters he realized that it had remained abandoned since he had last been there. Goku recalled his encounter with the Red Ribbon Army, it had been so long ago. Excluding his more recent meetings with the androids. He soon approached the main building to the headquarters. It was throughly destroyed near the top section, as well as covered in vines and ivy. Though he had travelled far into the past it had been long enough still for such a mess to accumulate among the buildings.

Goku entered cautiously through a broken window. It was very quiet, almost nerve rackingly so. He went to the floor below before he remembered that there actually was a floor that had collapsed. "I remember... That's when that man tried to kill me and his own comrade at the same time," he said aloud. On this fact he lifted the ground with much more ease than he had when he first lifted it so many years ago. The floor, though throughly solid, was thrown from the building like a rag-doll. Goku, for a moment, stared into the newly created hole that ran through the entire side of the wall. The flooring smashed below, shaking the already unstable building.

Goku searched the rubble, trying to clear away as much of it as possible. When it seemed that he would find nothing Goku felt his head collide into another object that he had missed while he concentrated solely on the ground. Goku's eyes watered as he glanced up to see a half demolished desk, the object that had caused his pain. The desk was covered by the broken remnants of the ceiling. "Huh?" he gave it a quizzical look, soon deciding to dig out the unfortunate piece of furniture. Easily enough he unburied it and was able to rip open its drawers. The first two proved hopeless as they were completely empty. There was only a few left unchecked. He pulled open the third one, surprised when a ringing noise echoed throughout the building. "The alarms are still operatable?!" Goku exclaimed. His eyes caught onto a small gleam that came from the desk.

"No way! It's the dragon radar!" Goku shouted as he took the small device from the drawer. He slowly clicked the meter at the top. When the screen flashed brightly he yelped with joy. "Haha! That's so lucky, it still works!" Goku looked back at it, after so long too. 'Bulma sure knows how to make her stuff.'

As the buzzing continued he exited through the wall, his eyes on the radar. Three of them were near another. Did that mean that someone else was searching for them too? Or was it just by chance? Goku hoped it was the latter. As he came overhead he felt an approaching power level. He recognized it, which was not the best thing. There were three of them, each he could recognize clearly. Covering his own energy he flew quickly out of sight into one of the abandoned buildings. As soon as he felt confident with his cover he glanced back outside. It was Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Yamcha. 'What are they doing here?' Goku gaped.

"Did you guys feel that?" Yamcha asked the other two.

"Yes, I felt it..." Tien muttered back.

"That energy... I recognized it, you guys," Chiaotzu said in a high voice.

"You as well, Chiaotzu? Something about it was familiar, but one thing is for certain... its power was enormous," Tien frowned.

"What do you think it was?" Yamcha asked.

"It disappeared as soon as we got close..." Chiaotzu observed.

"What do you think it was doing way out here?" Yamcha said, his tensed body seemed to have loosened as he suspected whatever it was to be gone already. "This is the old Red Ribbon's Army Headquarters..."

"Don't let your guard down, whatever it is, it could still be here now," Tien warned. Goku flinched, he did not suspect that they could sense him there, but it almost seemed as if he could.

"R-right," Yamcha said nervously.

Goku felt the air tense up once more. Then, quite suddenly, the alarm that had been going off the entire time pitched then dropped dead silent. After several minutes of complete silence and stillness Goku felt something fall onto his shoulder. He turned back slowly but was horrorstruck to find that the building's ceiling was on the close verge of collapsing.

With a loud crashing noise the room fell upon Goku, shocking the three Z Fighters still outside.

"Lets find out what that was!" Chiaotzu took a lunge, moving towards the sound of the fallen building.

"Wait, Chiaotzu, it could be dangerous!" Tien shouted as he followed his small companion.

"Wait up, you guys!" Yamcha shouted in a frantic voice as he too followed behind.

Goku could feel them growing closer, he had to do something quick. It would be too suspicious to be caught as Goten here. Goku powered up slightly, as though to warn them that he did not want them to approach. He guessed that it worked because they each went still. With the intention to scare rather than harm he fired a ball of energy through the rubble. As it exploded in an array of colors Goku took this chance to escape them. He fired into the air, towards the sun. All seven eyes were on him now, but they could only see a silhouette, as he had planned. Goku knew that he would have to try a very risky attack that would cause suspicion, but he had to at least try it, in order to avoid being seen. "Solar... FLARE!" His body began to glow brighter than the sun as the beam blinded the three fighters.

"Impossible, how could they know..." Tien muttered in shock. By the time the three had recovered Goku had flown away at full speed before throughly hiding his energy again.

"W-what the hell was that?!" Yamcha was the first to speak.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think it's a good think," Tien said through clenched jaws.

It was a narrow escape, it seemed strange that his only encounters involved those he wanted to see the least. Goku sighed, "What strange coincidences..."

Goku switched his attention back to the radar. It flashed brightly, showing the coordinates of one of the dragonballs. He smiled, there was only one thing to do after that... Dragonball hunting.

** Okay, that's the end of the second chapter. The third chapter is already under way, expect plenty of adventure and dragonball hunting in the next chapter!


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